Apple's rebuttal chides Microsoft for not saying the 'V' word

Thanks to the depth of coverage given to Microsoft's "Windows, Not Walls" advertising campaign, Apple has come forward with its own ads addressing the palaver.

Humorous and to the point, Apple's advertisements echo comments frequently heard throughout the blogosphere regarding Microsoft's $300 million "Life Without Walls" campaign: "That money could have been used on fixing Vista," and "Why don't the ads address Vista directly?"

As with the whole series of "Mac vs. PC" ads, it is a direct attack on Microsoft, and in the media climate today, its resemblance to partisan political strategy is especially strong. One party attacks the other with sensationalized claims, forcing the other to defend itself rather than parry with a counterclaim. This sort of back-and-forth has worked thus far for polarizing the political community, why shouldn't it work for home computers as well?

Negative campaigning is already in full force this month before Election Day, but now Apple has taken up the challenge.

Apple's whole campaign up to this point may not have been expressly designed as an assault on Microsoft's character, but Redmond had to act and change the public's perception. And now Apple is making fun of them for doing even that. Fortunately, it is done in a fashion that is lighthearted, and above all, short.

But as we see in the second ad, the majority of Justin Long's (Mac) dialogue is the word "Vista," albeit censored by Jonathan Hodgman (PC), who says the word "doesn't sit well with frustrated PC users." On average, he mentions the operating system every three seconds for the duration of the 30 second slot. Microsoft mentions "Vista" a grand total of zero times in its "Life Without Walls" ads.

Mr. PC diligently censors Mr. Mac in an effort to placate and soothe prospective users, protecting them from hearing offensive content such as the "V" word.